The Princess at the Stake
by Shinterymi
Summary: Elisabeth doesn't manage to sleep... She has to keep living anyways, with the help of her handmaid, Maleine, even if her "wings" disappeared from this world. Until that night...


_It was my first long one shot. The first part is narrated by Elisabeth. The second is the point of view of Märchen. (I noted it by putting the name of the characters in huge letters~)  
>I wrote it while the 7th Horizon was not even released and that we just had a few pictures of the covers. By this time, we were speculating about the stories, and about the fairytales that would be used in the album. Some of us were thinking that Maid Maleine would be one of those - because of Idoko's outfit like a handmaid, and the fact that Elisabeth takes her place in the Regular cover of Märchen. Of course, this theory was totally wrong, but I loved writing this story anyway. I hope it's enjoyable, even if it's a total, total fanmade story in that way~ <em>

__**Disclaimer :** Of course, as I said previously, the characters do not belong to me. They belong to Sound Horizon, and its main member Revo. Yokoyan for the design. _  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong><span>The princess at the stake...<span>**

**ELISABETH** - I still didn't manage to sleep... The fatigue accumulated these last years had took away my will to make space in my mind, in order to be able to rest. The night, alone in my bedroom, I had the feeling that Death itself would take me away if I closed my eyes. So I stayed up and thought every night , until the early morning, without succeeding in resting... I remained just lengthened on my bed, not moving, my eyes fixing the icy wall in front of me...

My handmaid, Maleine, every morning, showed me a worried face, while she helped me to have a wash. I knew that if my father saw in which state I was because of weakness, he would have scolded Maleine to have failed in her mission to take care of her mistress. But I couldn't help it... Being forced to seem happy after "his" death was beyond my strenght...

Suddenly, while the night was already well advanced, I felt a cold breath coming back of my shoulders. I turned around on my bed, and saw the window half-opened. The tower where I lived was high, and it was frequent that the wind pushed the shutters during fresh nights.

But at this moment, it was different. Something had called me. Something had called me outside the window. I got up, and slowly, approached of it, my heart beating fast...  
>I would have been able to throw myself down from the tower to answer this call. It was as an animal instinct which woke up inside of me...<p>

When I put my hands on the windowsill, I bent outside. I could see the well, the church a few hundred meters away from there. The cool of the night, the full moon lighting, the forest all around...  
>No, I just dreamt, it was just a dream... There was nothing here...<p>

-Elisabeth...

I jumped away... The breathing came behind me...  
>My nape of neck was shivering. Cold hands surrounded my hips. Ice-cold hands...<br>I understood... And tears rolled on my cheeks...

-März...

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><p>He came back from numerous times, in evenings, his glance darker and darker, as if his pupils were dried by a mist of black rain.<br>He said almost nothing, and didn't speak about the past. He was just there, caressing my cheeks, as if he quenched a desire that he had kept hidden inside his heart for such a long time. And I, finally, could sleep, against him. His skin was frozen, but it didn't import me at all. I could warm his chest as often as I wanted. Each next day, it was as if the night had been only a dream. And I lived now while waiting for twilight, by singing, by weaving silk, by drawing...

I was in a sharp dream, and slowly I took taste for life eventually... Without knowing the true meaning of all that...  
>I knew nevertheless what März hid behind his return. Several times moreover, he denied his first name, and said to me :<p>

- No, I'm not. I am Märchen now... März sleeps at the bottom of the well for a long time, indeed...

But... I didn't take care about what he was saying...

Ah... After all these events, something changed one night...  
>Märchen, like always, came from the window. It was different. His looking was different...<br>Eyes as dark as the black night and an abnormal smile was deforming his pale face. He kissed me with violence, and I couldn't do nothing. I was afraid of him... Then, he seized my throat and planted his nails around my neck... I couldn't breath, it was so painful... It was like I was slowly sinking into an artificial, painful sleep...  
>After a while, just before I vanished into inconsciousness, März released what he was doing. His eyes changed suddenly and became all white as before. They took an horrified expression.<br>He took me in his arms, caressing my cheeks and crying silently, whispering everendless "sorry, sorry... I'm sorry, my love..."  
>He wasn't able to stay here longer. He just vanished through the window, his sobs echoing in my heart...<p>

And I, confused, in the edge of tears, wasn't able to retain my own sobs. I didn't understand at all how all that happened, how he tried to kill me like that... It was like it wasn't his fault after all. It was... Another him... So, it was right ? März was not of this world anymore ? But who was Märchen, finally ? The crystallisation of März's regrets ? A wandered ghost ? No matter who he was... I... I loved him... And I knew that his eyes was sincere...  
>In response of my sobs, the door half-opened, and Marleine, my handmaid, appeared.<br>- Miss Elisabeth ? What happened ?  
>- It's nothing, Marleine... I... I had a nightmare...<p>

I couldn't say to her the truth. I couldn't...  
>-There were wolves which pursued me... They ate me, bit by bit, and I felt the pain... It was just... Horrible...<p>

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><p><em>Marleine... She asked "him" for vengeance. It was me that she wanted to see disappearing. Because I represented her captivity. My family had put her in charge of me. She had to serve me till the end of her life. Maybe it was too much for her, and she had wished another life. She said that I could not understand...<em>  
><em>But yes, finally, I understand. On this stake, I can think.<em>

_I was also in captivity, and I suffered from it. I always lived in this high Tower, looking through the rectangular window, where from I could see the ghosts of my childhood walking and laughing in the empty fields. I always wanted to run away, to leave from here, and to join him, at the very bottom of the well. Maybe he also wanted it... But... He was not able to resolve to do that . He had to comply with this curse which urged him to quench the vengeances of corrupt people who wanted him for it... How an horrible fate..._

_Marleine must be satisfied now, to see me on that stake. And I, I feel nothing anymore. Because anyway, März died. No matter how many nights I would have been able to be together with Märchen, there would have been only a void at dawn, as if all that had been only a dream. I prefer to leave joining him, now..._

_Then the flames consume me slowly. I look again at this moon, at this full moon which faces me... And I can feel "his" tears on me..._

_He holds his baton, and conducts the orchestra, playing a requiem. I hear the voices appearing from nowhere around me, to intone a farewell song... I leave now..._

_The last thing that I hear is "her" faraway laughing..._

_Ah, Marleine... You are now laughing in this dazzling time... But... Will it turn into an everlasting moan ?..._

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><p><strong>MÄRCHEN<strong> - The night comes again. And I am took again by the instinct which guides me through the thoughts of the sinners. They implore me : _" I cannot bear it any more, I don't want to live like that anymore... Avenge me... "._  
>One of them didn't leave me the time to work, because she was victime of the hatred of another one. She already hang herself not far away from the inn in the middle of the forest, by "instinct".<br>And the "inscinct" guides me again and again, to work on the vengeance of others, always crueler than the one before...

I have to kill Elisabeth... Not with my own hands. I have to lead the orchestra to her own loss. I have to beat the measure, and hold it up until the last note. Until her breath stops. And I can do nothing to stop me, "myself". I am under the influence of "myself". Under the influence of "them" all. They are my hell, and I'm the hell of those they want to see disappear.

Here we are. That's it... Her breath stop... And nothing more... Elisabeth is dead...  
>I'm a void now... Just a void.<br>I can be the vassal of these ladies forever. Because I would never have a heart again. I would never have wings again...

But I want to avenge her at least, Elisabeth, **Meine** Elisabeth...

Then, Marleine, what do we feel when **Death** is near ? When we convey death around us? What do you feel now your hands are dyed in blood ?

Yes, Honey. You seem happy to have taken her place. You're like a princess now, so beautiful, married to this young marquis instead of her... You seem satisfied to have seen her burning on the stake of hell... You wanted wealth, you wanted power, but you lost your consciousness, beautiful Honey...

So, I take my baton, and I become the new orchestra conductor in order to play this symphony I composed myself. It's not part of the scenario of one of those merciless sinners, this time. It's mine, just **MINE.**

**The First Note...**  
>Soon, ghosts will haunt you, and you cannot bear it anymore...<br>**Second Chord...**  
>Then you will become insane<br>**Third, Violin Solo...**  
>And you're beloved marquis will chase you from the castle<br>**Fourth, Viola Chords...**  
>You'll have nowhere to go, nobody to speak with, you'll be alone with your ghosts...<br>**Fifth, Fugato...**  
>So you'll flee and will arrive at the edge of the well...<br>**Sixth, Timpanies roll...**  
>You will want to dive into an eternal rest, believing in escape your fate...<br>**Seventh, Tutti...**  
>And you will throw yourself into the abyss...<p>

_For ever, the orchestra will consume your heart, violins will delight in playing wonderful arpeggios..._  
><em>And all of that will be the work of your instinct. <em>_This instinct I controle with my baton..._


End file.
